News

American postmen get dressed to kilt

Scotland's national dress becomes a uniform success stateside

To you and me it is a kilt. To the American postal service it is a Male Unbifurcated Garment (MUG) and it is about to become official uniform for thousands of mailmen who believe it will keep them cooler and more comfortable while they are on their rounds.

Kilts have already become part of the uniform for postmen in Washington and Oregon and now a campaign is under way to introduce it in every other state.

A group of workers, led by Dean Peterson, a 48-year-old postman from Washington DC, is lobbying the postal service to have the traditional Scottish garment inducted into the official uniform because, members claim, it is more "comfortable and suitable" to the male anatomy than shorts or trousers.

The issue was debated last week at the biennial convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Boston, where former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was the